Little by little the story of a modern Municipal airport has unfolded Saturday the $20,000 federal grant for Warsaw airport improvement arrived. This makes total expenditure possible of $40,000, with local funds included.

Somewhat less than that is available here, however, and the total amount to be spent before spring is in the neighborhood of $37,000.

The unseen ground work for all this has been laid slowly, but surely. the things we can see will now begin. Within a few hours after the grant arrive at the office of Donald Lessig, city airport engineer, officials of Phend & Brown, contractors, and the city of Warsaw gathered and signed the final contracts.

Phend & Brown will have completed before spring, one big hard surfaced blacktop runway, drainage ditches along all runways, with manholes to catch surface water, taxi strips to and from the end of all runways to the plane parking area, and a great deal of grading.

 

One phase of Municipal airport which should develop faster now, is the renting of space for private hangars. Provided in the master plan is space reserved for a neat row of small private hangars, where individuals may keep their own airplanes under cover. The owner pays the city $25 per year rental for the ground, builds his own hangar, which remains his private property. This is considerably cheaper, if you figure it out, than $15 per month hanger rent, 12 months per year.

At Rochester
Believe me, it is an experience to be under the hood of a Link trainer flying blind. You very quickly find out how little you can depend upon instinct and how important are your instruments when you can't see the ground or sky-line.

This $12,000 mechanical wonder, now at Rochester, assimilates the every movement and motion of an airplane in flight. It answers the pilot's every whim, follows his mistakes faithfully, even to slapping him into a tail-spin, which is, of course, not fatal.

It took me a number of minutes before I could even keep the infernal thing flying straight and level by watching the instruments. Your eyes constantly revolve around the most simple group of instruments. Your eyes constantly revolve around the most simple group of instruments, needle, ball, airspeed, altimeter, gyro, rate of climb. Later you add a great deal more, but by the use of only these few, it is possible to fly straight and level, make turns, climb or decrease altitude.

About the time I thought I was doing fine, the instructor's voice came through the radio phones" "If you think you can fly by instinct, close your eyes so you can't see the instruments and fly by the seat of your pants for just one minute."

My ego could have eased out through a rivet-hole at the end of 60 seconds. When I knew the ship was climbing. I shoved the stick forward. I knew it was turning left so I applied a little right rudder. I could feel a wing low, so I gently nudged a little aileron.

The results were disastrous in less than a minute. In answer to a hasty shout, I opened my eyes for a look. The Link was diving at "200 miles per hour." One wing was down and the ship was turning. That ended the noble experiment of flying by feel without reference to visual aids-and any foolish ideas I entertained about my bird instincts.

I tried to fly a course across country and managed to hold a fairly decent altitude, airspeed, etc., until I got to fooling with radio orientation at my theoretical destination. Inside the hood of the Link, with only the cat's eyes of the instruments for company, the dit-da of the radio beam only added to my confusion. For this first experiment in blind-flying, I wound up completely lost, heading in the wrong direction, so confused I could not tell A from N on the radio code, nor determine without thinking which way to turn for north, east, south or west.

The only Link around here is now located at Rochester airport, all set up in a dandy room. Although you cannot get accredited Link time there, you can purchase an hour or two under the hood at a very reasonable rate. I really believe it is worth every pilot's time to learn the basic principle of blind-flying. Especially the complicated business of orienting a field by use of radio beam only, while watching instruments constantly. It is an experience.

New York's Race
Six classes of airplanes will be entered in the New Year's day race: Aeronca, Piper Trainer, Taylorcraft, Cessna, Luscombe and Swift. The first race starts at 10:30 o'clock New Year's day morning and the last race must be started before 2:15 in the afternoon to finish the course. Pilots and navigators meet at the Aero clubhouse on Smith Field at 10 o'clock to be briefed on the fine points of the sweepstakes. The course will be announced at that time.

Each class-winner will receive a prize, both pilot and navigator. These are being furnished by the Home Furniture Mart, Mowrey Studio, Overmyer Motor co., Hub Clothing company and Waco Supply company.

The grand prize-winners, taking first place in all classes, will be the first to win the Sky Writing trophy. The pilot's name and the navigator's name will be engraved upon the trophy.

The races will start at Smith Field and will end at Municipal Field, where gas distributor Bill Warren will fill the contestants' tanks free. In case of bad weather, the race will be run the following Sunday, same way.

Warsaw Daily Times Mon. Dec. 29, 1947

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